HOPE  or  THE  EEPUBLIC. 


BY 

EDWARD  H.  ROGERS, 

AUTHOR  OF  LEGISLATIVE  REPORTS  AND  PUBLIC  ADDRESSES 
UPON  SOCIAL  QUESTIONS. 


BOSTON: 

FRANKLIN  PRESS :  RAND,  AYERY,  &  CO. 
1886. 


“Europe  is  marching  toward  the  republic;  but  you  young 
men  must  not  deceive  yourselves.  By  the  faults  of  govern¬ 
ments,  which  sometimes  yield  when  they  ought  to  be  firm,  and 
sometimes  resist  when  they  ought  only  to  curb  and  direct,  this 
century  will  see  only  the  period  of  transition,  —  a  transition  which 
will  be  bloody,  terrible,  and  which,  I  thank  God,  I  am  not  to  see. 
The  blending  of  social  and  political,  of  interior  and  exterior 
problems,  is  such  at  this  period  that  nations  are  fatally  forced  to 
decide  all  questions  by  suppressing  all.  But  violent  suppression 
and  solution  ar-e  two  things ;  and,  shift  them  as  you  please,  ques¬ 
tions  will  still  exist  as  tnreatening  as  ever. 

“  It  is  only  when  the  New  World,  which  is  already  tearing  the 
flanks  of  the  Old,  shall  have  acquired  enough  of  virility  and  of 
wisdom  to  vanquish  and  to  decide,  that  an  economical  republic 
will  bring  back  order  and  peace  to  our  society.” — Address  of 
M.  Thiers  to  a  body  of  French  students,  1868. 

“  The  old  question  is  coming  up  again,  the  old  faith  is  openly 
set  aside,  and  we  are  told  that  infallibility  is  at  last  found  for 
men,  and  resides  in  the  majority.  .  .  .  We  may  despise  the 
present  advocates  of  social  democracy,  and  make  light  of  their 
sayings  and  doings;  but  there  is  no  man  who  knows  what  is 
really  going  on  in  England  but  will  admit  that  there  will  have 
to  be  a  serious  reckoning  with  them  at  no  distant  day.  .  .  .  Many 
of  us  feel  that  any  tyranny  under  which  England  has  groaned 
in  the  past  has  been  light  by  the  side  of  what  we  may  come  to, 
if  we  are  to  carry  the  new  political  gospel  to  its  logical  conclu¬ 
sion.  .  .  .  But,  if  we  will  not  do  this,  is  there  any  alternative, 
since  we  repudiate  personal  government,  but  to  fall  back  on  the 
old  Hebrew  and  Christian  faith,  that  the  nations  are  ruled  by  a 
living,  present,  invisible  King?  ''‘—Life  of  Alfred,  by  Thomas 
Hughes. 

2 


« 


THE  HOPE  OF  TH^.REPIJBUC:. 

A  WORKINGMAN’S  VIEWS  OE "  TOE  ’REtlATlbN  OF 
THE  CHURCH  TO  THE  STATE. 


BY  EDWARD  H.  ROGERS,  CHELSEA,  MASS. 


[Revised  and  reprinted  from  the  “  Labor  Balance  ”  of  July,  1878.] 


Free  institutions  are  yet  on  trial.  The  first  cen¬ 
tury  of  our  national  existence  has  indeed  developed 
glorious  possibilities  of  success;  but  it  has  also  re¬ 
vealed  exposures  to  evil,  not  only  appalling  in  their 
magnitude,  but  of  a  character  hitherto  unsuspected. 
The  dangers  of  an  unemployed  and  poverty-stricken 
class  have  suddenly  burst  upon  us  without  warning. 
These  dangers  originate  almost  exclusively  in  the 
defects  of  our  existing  systems  of  industry  and  ex¬ 
change  ;  and  it  has  become  a  matter  of  profound 
solicitude  with  all  thoughtful  persons,  to  ascertain 
whether  there  are  any  forces  in  the  world  through 
which  a  voluntary  and  peaceable  solution  of  the 
questions  at  issue  may  be  found. 

Until  within  a  few  years,  the  writer  was  unable  to 
answer  this  question  to  his  own  satisfaction ;  but  he 
has  at  length  come  to  the  clear  conviction,  that  the 
perpetuity  of  the  republic  depends  on  the  application 
of  the  principles  of  the  Mosaic  legislation,  and  of 
the  teachings  of  Jesus,  to  the  management  of  our 
material  affairs  ;  and  that  this  must  be  brought 
about  indirectly  through  the  associated  action  of  the 
members  of  the  church  of  Christ,  in  mutual  care  for 
each  other’s  pecuniary  welfare,  thus  gradually  leaven¬ 
ing  society  with  the  principles  of  the  Decalogue,  and 
the  motives  of  the  Gospel.  The  laws  of  the  original 
church  were  avowedly  so  planned  by  Moses,  both  as 
to  the  prevention  and  relief  of  poverty,  that,  if 


f 


4  c  *  ,  TOT  Hpp:^:  ,OF  THE  BEPUBLIC. 

obeyed^  tKefe'  comld;  i^pi,  Jxa^ye  been  any  permanently 
poor  clps  (Dent.  xv.  4,  marg.).  But  the  action  of 
the  cliiireh  wiH*^  ’  depend' toh,  :  the;  interpretation  she 
puts  on[t^ie  gdJspe]*,  insist  r'^l^t,^  oh  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment^^'tt  becomes  ther'efbfe,  to  enter  upon  a 
fresh  iitveStigat^oii?  4he  institutes  of  Moses  and  the 
teachi,h^s  ;of:  bearing  upon  the  exist¬ 

ence  *and  *e:^tfen^dn*  of 'free  institutions  throughout 
the  world. 

To  aid  us  in  this  effort  to  examine  the  Bible  anew, 
we  have  at  hand  a  scholarly  treatise,  written  some 
thirty  years  ago,  very  commanding  in  its  excellences, 
and  equally  marked  in  its  defects,  but  which  stands 
in  such  relations  to  the  recent  rapid  development  of 
opinion  upon  social  questions  in  this  country,  and  is 
so  representative  in  its  character,  as  to  require  our 
especial  consideration.  I  refer  to  the  w^ork  of  Pro¬ 
fessor  E.  C.  Wines,  a  social  scientist  of  reputation, 
and  a  Christian  believer,  entitled  Commentary 
on  the  Laws  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews;  ’’  extracts  from 
which  are  now  laid  before  the  reader. 

“  This  treatise  is  an  attempt  to  analyze  and  to  de¬ 
velop  systematically  the  civil  polity  of  the  inspired 
Hebrew  lawgiver.  The  civil  government  of  the  an¬ 
cient  Hebrews  was  the  government  of  a  free  people. 
It  was  a  government  of  laws.  It  was  a  system  of  self- 
government.  The  constitution  of  Moses  was  pervaded 
with  popular  sympathies  and  the  spirit  of  liberty. 
The  moderns  are  not  real  discoverers :  they  have  but 
propagated  and  applied  truths  and  principles  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  first,  the  wisest,  the  ablest,  of  legisla¬ 
tors.” 

After  glancing  at  the  ‘‘  two  systems  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  that  preceded  the  Hebrew  culture,  namely,  the 
Asiatic  and  the  Egyptian,’’  and  at  the  priestly  caste 
in  Egypt,  which  was  the  treasury  of  the  learning  and 
culture  of  that  nation,  and  at  the  “  iron  despotism, 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,”  which  it  established. 
Professor  Wines  continues:  — 

“  In  the  midst  of  this  deplorable  superstition  and 
tyranny  there  appeared  a  man  endowed  with  a  noble 
genius,  deeply  versed  in  all  the  wisdom  and  folly  of 
those  times,  strong  in  the  energy  of  his  own  thought, 
and  expressly  raised  up  and  qualified  by  Heaven  to 
become  the  reformer  of  his  age  That  man  was  Moses, 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  5 

the  insjjired  Hebrew  lawgiver.  By  the  wisdom  of  his 
polity  and  the  vigor  of  his  genius,  he  overthrew  the 
whole  degrading  apparatus  of  political  jugglery  and 
l>riestly  despotism.  He  reduced  the  speculative  ideas 
of  his  own  and  the  preceding  ages  to  a  single  sublime 
principle  of  simplicity.  He  recognized  the  welfare 

AND  HAPPINESS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  AS  THE  ONE  SUPREME 
LAW  OF  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY.  He  impressed  a  new 
character  upon  his  age  and  species.  He  gave  a  new 
impulse  to  man,  both  in  his  individual  and  social  ener¬ 
gies;  and  he  fixed  upon  his  labors  the  indestructible 
seal  of  a  divine  wisdom  and  beneficence.” 

Should  the  reader  of  the  foregoing  quotations  re¬ 
call  some  of  the  features  of  the  Mosaic  statutes 
which  we  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  harsh, 
and  demand  an  explanation  which  shall  make  them 
consistent  with  the  view  here  given,  our  author  sup¬ 
plies  the  answer.  Alluding  to  the  popular  aversion 
to  Moses  on  account  of  these  ungenial  peculiarities, 
he  remarks,  that  the  principle  that  laws  ifiust  be 
relative  to  circumstances,  that  they  must  grow  out  of 
the  state  of  society,  and  be  adapted  to  its  wants,  is 
founded  in  reason,  and  confirmed  by  experience.” 
In  this  connection  he  cites  Montesquieu  as  observing 
that  the  remarkable  expression  to  be  found  in  Ezek. 
XX.  25,  ‘‘Wherefore  I  [Jehovah]  gave  them  laws 
which  were  not  good,  and  judgments  whereby  they 
should  not  live,”  “meaning  that  the  institutions  of 
Moses  were  not  absolutely  the  best,  but  that  they 
were  relatively  so,  .  .  .  is  the  sponge  which  wipes 
out  all  the  difficulties  which  are  to  be  found  in  the 
laws  of  Moses.”  Under  the  light  which  is  now 
being  thrown  upon  those  times,  it  is  evident  that 
some  of  these  laws  which  we  have  been  accustomed 
to  regard  as  severe  were  really  ingenious  and  hu¬ 
mane  adaptations  to  existing  circumstances.  For 
instance,  the  law  of  retaliation,  which  allowed  an 
eye  for  an  eye,  actually  restrained  revenge,  and  was 
so  intended  ;  because  if  there  had  been  no  limit 
placed  upon  passion,  that  is,  if  law  had  not  been 
adjusted  to  the  existing  condition  of  society,  two 
eyes  would  have  been  likely  to  have  been  taken  in¬ 
stead  of  one.  Or  in  the  matter  of  divorce,  in  which 
extreme  leniency  seems  to  have  been  exercised  by 
Moses,  it  may  have  been  with  a  view  to  lessen  the 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


probabilities  of  murder  in  cases  of  marital  disagree¬ 
ment. 

With  the  quotations  made  above  I  heartily  agree ; 
but  I  have  now  to  notice  expressions  of  quite  a  dif¬ 
ferent  character.  Professor  Wines  repudiates  the 
idea  that  God  intended  that  the  Mosaic  laws  should 
bind  any  nation  but  the  Hebrews.’’  IS’ow,  there  is 
a  sense  in  which  this  is  true:  but  in  the  sense  in 
which  he  means  it,  and  with  him  nearly  the  whole 
Protestant  Church,  it  is  not  true;  for  the  meaning 
with  which  he  writes  not  only  excludes  the  Mosaic 
laws  in  their  statutory /orm  from  any  appropriate 
application  to  modern  society,  but  also  excludes  the 
very  principles  of  the  Mosaic  legislation  themselves, 
and  shuts  out  Christ’s  use  of  them  as  well.  The 
summary  style  in  which  our  author  discards  that 
legislation  concerning  pecuniary  affairs  is  shown  in 
the  following  sentence,  in  which  usury  is  included 
among  various  things,  of  which  he  says,  ^‘None  of 
the  reasons  on  which  these  laws  were  based  have  any 
existence  among  us.^’  Now,  remembering  that  usury 
is  one  of  the  great  foundation-stones  of  modern  soci¬ 
ety,  and  that,  in  connection  with  our  gigantic  debts, 
it  is  confessedly  causing  profound  alarm,  set  right 
against  this  saying  of  our  author  another  from  one 
of  his  opening  paragraphs,  as  follows:  — 

“The  Hebrew  lawgiver  is,  in  many  respects,  the 
man  for  the  present.  He  belongs  not  solely  to  the 
past,  as  too  common  prejudice  imagines.  The  great 
principles  of  public  and  private  law,  which  he  not 
only  developed  in  theory,  but  reduced  to  practice,  are 
so  many  lessons  of  inspired  wisdom,  so  many  lights  of 
experience  to  guide  the  labors  of  statesmen  and  legis¬ 
lators  to  the  end  of  time.” 

Is  not  the  contradiction  too  plain  to  need  com¬ 
ment  ?  Can  it  be  that  a  legislator  who  has  not 
only  developed  in  theory,  but  reduced  to  practice, 
the  great  principles  of  public  and  private  law,”  and 
who  has  given  therein  ‘^so  many  lessons  of  inspired 
wisdom  ...  to  guide  the  labors  of  statesmen  and 
legislators  to  the  end  of  time,”  — can  it  be  that  he  has 
gone  so  far  astray  concerning  one  of  the  fundamen¬ 
tals  of  life,  that  his  laws  in  that  regard  have  no  les¬ 
son  for  us  ?  Nay,  rather,  has  not  our  author  placed 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  EEPUBLIC.  7 

himself  in  a  predicament  by  such  a  contradiction  ? 
But  in  the  whole  of  this  he  is  but  the  mouthpiece  of 
the  whole  Protestant  world.  What,  then,  shall  we 
say  of  that  world  ? 

These  things  are  written,  not  from  a  disposition  to 
criticise  an  individual,  or  denounce  Christian  people, 
but  from  a  profound  conviction  that  our  churches 
are  wrong  concerning  this  thing ;  that  this  wrong  is 
the  root  of  those  great  dangers  which  make  the  most 
thoughtful  fear  for  the  perpetuity  of  our  institu¬ 
tions  ;  and  that  only  as  we  right  this  wrong  can  we 
save  the  republic. 

From  these  remarks  on  the  legislation  of  Moses, 
we  advance  to  the  consideration  of  the  relations  of 
the  gospel  to  the  questions  in  hand.  I  have  talmn 
the  ground,  in  another  publication  more  distinctively 
religious  than  this,  that  the  majestic  progress  through 
Galilee,  in  which  the  Messiah  made  public  proclama¬ 
tion  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  was  mainly  material  or 
earthly  in  its  character,  and  also  communal,  that  is, 
addressed  to  cities  or  communities;  that,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  call  to  repentance  (Mark  vi. 
12),  there  is  no  allusion  to  baptism,  regeneration,  or 
any  other  rite  or  experience  of  an  individual  or 
spiritual  character.  The  twelve  apostles  and  the 
seventy  disciples  who  were  sent  forth  were  in  some 
sense  the  representatives  of  the  Hebrew  senate  and 
house  of  representatives,-^  elders  and  congregation, 
—  as  they  are  called  in  the  Old  Testament.  They 
appealed  directly  to  the  national  spirit,  and  their 
mission  was  in  harmony  with  the  general  and  justi¬ 
fiable  expectation  by  the  people  of  an  earthly  king 
to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  David,  as  foretold  by  their 
prophets. 

Inasmuch  as  the  full  consideration  of  the  above 
would  take  us  away  from  our  theme,  I  will  now  pre¬ 
sent  some  of  the  limitations  under  which  the  Master 
must  unavoidably  have  labored,  but  which  have  not 
as  yet  attracted  the  notice  which  they  deserve.  It  is 
generally  supposed  that  Christ  was  frank  and  out¬ 
spoken  in  speech,  and  declared  plainly  his  message ; 
and  this,  in  a  sense,  is  true.  He  himself  said,  ‘‘In 
secret  have  I  said  nothing’’  (John  xviii.  20).  Never¬ 
theless,  it  is  also  true,  and  consistent  with  this,  that 
large  portions  of  the  interviews  and  conversations 


8  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  EEPUBLIC. 

recorded  in  the  Gospels  were  either  in  private,  as 
with  Nicodemus;  or  to  his  disciples  in  the  same 
manner,  as  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  v.  1) ; 
or  by  parable  in  his  more  general  discourse ;  or  enig¬ 
matically,  as  when  he  replied  to  Pilate  concernii^ 
his  authority  as  king.  The  deeper  one  sees  into  the 
method  and  manner  of  Jesus,  the  clearer  does  it  ap¬ 
pear  that  the  qualities  of  caution  and  reserve  were 
often  exercised  by  him  in  conduct  singularly  con¬ 
trasted  with  his  usual  winning  address  and  simpli¬ 
city  of  language;  and  it  was  his  deliberate  intention 
to  be  thus  guarded.  He  did  not  expect  to  be  fully 
understood.  He  meant  by  his  words  much  more 
than  he  intended  them  to  convey  to  his  hearers. 
This  veiled  manner  of  Christ  sprang  justly  from  the 
nature  of  his  mission,  which  was,  I  apprehend,  neither 
more  nor  less  than  the  entire  reconstruction  of 
human  society  by  the  restoration  of  the  Theocracy. 
He  was  the  most  tremendous  revolutionist  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  This  purpose  of  his  was  directly  con¬ 
trary  to  the  selfish  interests  of  the  Jewish  hierarchy 
and  also  of  the  Roman  government ;  and,  in  the  brief 
period  of  six  weeks  from  the  time  it  was  avowed, 
Pilate  was  goaded  by  the  Sanhedrim  to  consent  to 
his  death.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  Jesus  might 
have  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  and  have  died  in  high 
esteem,  if  his  preaching  had  been  what  the  modern 
church  assumes  it  to  have  been,  —  limited  to  the  spirit¬ 
ual  salvation  of  individuals.  So  far  as  we  can  see,  he 
might,  at  the  last  moment  of  his  life,  have  availed 
himself  of  the  whole  power  of  the  Roman  Govern¬ 
ment  by  simply  telling  Pilate,  if  he  had  been  free 
to  do  so,  that  he  did  not  propose  to  interfere  with 
any  of  the  existing  institutions  of  Judaea.  BTxt  he 
did  not  do  this,  because  truthfully  he  could  not. 
For  conclusive  proof  of  this,  please  refer  to  Luke 
iv.  18-29,  which  gives  the  account  of  a  discourse  at 
Nazareth,  which,  though  apparently  delivered  at  the 
opening  of  his  ministry,  seems  to  have  foreshadowed 
the  extraordinary  scenes  which  transpired  at  its 
close,  during  the  preaching  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
throughout  the  Galilean  cities. 

The  Hebrew  world  of  labor  was  fast  lowering  to 
the  Gentile  level  of  slavery,  which  was  the  irresisti¬ 
ble  tendency  of  the  masses  of  the  Roman  Empire. 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


9 


Debt  was  inevitable.  Cbattelship  unavoidably  en¬ 
sued,  the  debtor  being  sold  to  satisfy  the  claims  of 
the  creditor.  While  the  sabbatic  periods  were  ob¬ 
served,  this  bondage  could  not  last  over  seven  years ; 
but  these  had  fallen  into  contempt.  Christ  an¬ 
nounced  his  purpose  ‘‘  to  preach  the  acceptable  or 
sabbatic  year  of  the  Lord,  to  preach  deliverance  to 
the  captives,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised;’’ 
that  is,  to  liberate  all  the  slaves,  —  a  message  which 
was  as  offensive  to  the  respectable  classes  of  Naza¬ 
reth  as  a  similar  errand  would  have  been  in  South 
Carolina  twenty  years  ago.  His  own  towns-people 
attempted  to  kill  him  on  the  spot,  hy  throwing  him 
headlong  down  a  precipice,  just  because  of  what  he 
said,  and  would  unquestionably  have  done  so,  had 
it  not  been  for  an  extraordinary  and  mysterious  in¬ 
fluence  which  defeated  their  intention.  The  main 
volume  of  his  mission  to  men  turned  upon  the  re¬ 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  involving, 
necessarily,  such  an  expansion  and  application  of 
the  Mosaic  laws  as  would  be  required  by  the  greatly 
altered  conditions  of  society.  If  the  Komans  had 
known  his  intentions,  they  would  not  only  have  been 
as  ready  as  the  Jews  to  put  him  to  death,  but  they 
would  have  taken  the  initiative.  A  free  discussion 
of  social  questions  was  impossible  under  the  empire. 
Their  agitation  involved  such  exposures  to  sedition, 
that  the  Romans  would  not  even  permit  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  fire-companies,  but  relied  entirely  for  the 
extinguishment  of  conflagrations  on  individual  ef¬ 
fort,  aided  by  the  soldiery.  Such,  however,  was  the 
wonderful  prudence  of  Christ,  that  he  succeeded  in 
concealing  his  real  aim  in  its  ultimate  form  from  the 
Roman  authorities,  and  so  avoided  their  enmity. 
The  blindness  which  has  hitherto  obscured  half  of 
Christ’s  work  is  very  astonishing.  It  is  painfully 
apparent  in  the  case  of  the  gifted  author  of  ^‘Ecce 
Homo,”  who,  writing  with  a  view  to  quicken  the 
church  to  a  sense  of  its  duty  to  the  laboring  masses, 
casts  a  deep  shadow,  where  otherwise  he  could  have 
shed  light,  by  ignoring  the  claims  of  the  law  upon 
Christian  believers,  as  follows:  “Christ  did  not 
leave  a  code  of  morals  in  the*  ordinary  sense  of  the 
word,  that  is,  an  enumeration  of  actions  prescribed 
and  prohibited.”  But  what  did  he  mean  by  his  ex- 


10  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  EEPUBLIC. 

press  declaration  to  his  disciples  ?  —  Think  not  that 
I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets.  1  am 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  Whosoever,  there¬ 
fore,  shall  break  one  of  these  least  commandments, 
and  shall  teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.”  Is  not  this  leaving  a 
code  of  morals  in  all  essential  respects  ?  I  submit 
that  he  must  be  taken  as  sustaining  the  authority  of 
the  Mosaic  code,  not  only  in  its  principles,  but  in 
such  specific  application  of  them  to  the  affairs  of 
men  as  the  Divine  Spirit  shall  from  age  to  age  sug¬ 
gest.  It  may  be  true  that  he  made  ‘^only  two  or 
three  prohibitions  and  two  or  three  commands;” 
but,  if  these  mandates  were  comprehensive,  they 
were  sufficient.  He  loosened  the  sabbath;  but  he 
strengthened  marriage.  He  gave  the  church  author¬ 
ity  over  the  secular  affairs  of  its  members  (Matt.  xvi. 
19;  xviii.  15-18),  limiting  his  followers  to  an  eccle¬ 
siastical  court  in  adjustment  of  their  mutual  dis¬ 
agreements,  with  the  assurance  that  their  proceed¬ 
ings  would  be  recognized  in  heaven.  He  bound  the 
principle  of  labor  cost  or  sacrifice  into  the  conditions 
which  should  control  the  reward  of  toil  in  the  para¬ 
ble  of  the  laborers  (Matt.  xx.  1-16),  wherein  those 
who  wearily  and  anxiously  waited  till  the  eleventh 
hour  for  some  one  to  hire  them  were  paid  the  same 
as  those  who  were  first  employed.  He  forbid  his 
followers  lending  on  usury,  but  commanded  them  to 
lend,  looking  not  even  for  the  principal  again  (Luke 
vi.  35).  He  denounced  the  Pharisees  for  devouring 
widows’  houses  by  usury  (Matt,  xxiii.  14).  And  in 
what  has  taken  the  name  of  the  great  commandment 
(John  xxi.  15-17)  he  enjoined  Peter,  as  the  leader  of 
the  twelve  apostles,  to  feed  his  lambs,  twice  repeat¬ 
ing  the  injunction.  How,  his  introductory  act  hav¬ 
ing  been  an  invitation  to  his  hungry  followers  “to 
come  and  dine,”  the  whole  proceeding  becomes  a 
clear  illustration  of  the  truth  that  the  material  needs 
of  men  must  be  blended  with  the  spiritual  element 
in  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  contended  that  these  injunc¬ 
tions  were  addressed  to  his  Hebrew  followers,  and 
therefore  are  not  applicable  to  us  Gentile  believers. 
It  is  true  that  the  full  force  of  some  of  the  com¬ 
mands  he  gave  was  remitted  by  him  at  the  last  sup- 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  EEPUBLIC. 


11 


per,  because  of  the  rejection  by  the  nation  of  his 
authority  as  their  king.  “  And  he  said  unto  them, 
When  I  sent  you  without  purse  and  scrip  and  shoes, 
lacked  ye  any  thing  ?  And  they  said,  Nothing.  Then 
said  he  unto  them,  But  now,  he  that  hath  a  purse,  let 
him  take  it,  and  likewise  his  scrip ;  and  he  that  hath 
no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  garment,  and  buy  one  ” 
(Luke  xxii.  35,  36).  But  they  are  conclusive  in  any 
view  as  to  his  intentions,  and  plainly  he  would  re¬ 
new  them  again  when  the  conditions  should  make 
them  appropriate;  and  that  they  are  perpetual  in 
their  final  obligation  is  clear  from  the  solemn  arbitra¬ 
ment  of  the  judgment  scene  (Matt.  xxv.  30-40), 
where  the  test  of  fitness  for  heaven  is  made  to  de¬ 
pend  upon  the  exercise  of  Christian  affection  in  re¬ 
lieving  hunger,  thirst,  nakedness,  and  imprisonment. 

But,  even  if  the  presence  of  the  Homans  had  not 
prevented  an  explicit  promulgation  of  the  details  of 
the  new  dispensation,  the  proclamation  of  the  Theoc¬ 
racy  was  brought  so  abruptly  to  a  close  as  to  leave 
no  adequate  opening  for  the  full  development  of  the 
kingly  claims  of  Christ.  If  he  had  been  ‘‘  crowned,’’ 
instead  of  being  crucified,”  no  room  for  doubt  as 
to  his  intentions  would  have  remained.  Solomon 
was  unquestionably  the  type  of  his  royal  power,  and 
in  the  history  of  his  reign  the  beneficent  millennial 
rule  of  Christ  is  dimly  shadowed  forth. 

In  the  proverbs  of  this  mighty  prince  we  have  a 
re-afiirmation  of  the  peculiar  sociology  of  the  Deca¬ 
logue.  lie  eulogizes  wisdom  as  well  as  piety;  de¬ 
nounces  usury,  and  exalts  the  law  (Prov.  xxviii.  8, 
10) ;  and  makes  frequent  and  special  mention  of  the 
evils  of  suretyship,  or  giving  bonds  for  others,  show¬ 
ing  that  he  saw  plainly  that  its  tendency  was  to  lead 
men  to  rely  on  money  instead  of  character ;  and  in 
doing  this  he  condemns  the  practice  of  indorsing. 
But  he  became  involved  in  the  commercialism  which 
he  opposes,  and  his  reign  introduced  the  same  evils 
which  are  now  threatening  society.  The  glut  of  sil¬ 
ver,  popular  discontent,  and  excessive  taxation,  are 
repeating  themselves  in  our  own  land  from  the  same 
causes.  The  organization  of  labor  in  the  building 
of  the  temple  was  the  type  and  prophecy  of  the 
course  which  Christ  would  have  followed,  if  he  had 
not  been  prematurely  “cut  olf  in  the  midst  of  his 


12  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

days,’’  and  it  is  also  the  course,  which,  by  the  most  ob¬ 
vious  of  inferences,  he  is  now,  at  his  second  coming, 
pursuing  as  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  making 
the  earth  a  temple  for  his  worship  and  service. 

It  follows,  also,  from  the  above  premises,  that 
Christ  must  have  acted  and  spoken  with  reference  to 
the  situation  of  the  disciples  after  his  departure;  and 
his  reserve  was  partly  due  to  this  cause.  He  well 
knew  that  his  rejection  would  dwarf  his  majestic 
offer  to  restore  the  kingdom  to  the  dimensions  of  the 
gospel  as  delivered  to  the  apostles,  which  was  simply 
the  ‘‘good  news  ”  of  the  kingdom  to  be  re-established 
at  his  “second  coming.”  As  he  preached  the  king¬ 
dom,  it  was  richly  charged  with  the  materialism  of 
Moses,  even  after  making  all  allowance  for  the  cau¬ 
tion  which  circumstances  imposed  upon  him.  But 
there  was  no  possibility  that  his  followers  should 
iucceed  where  he  had  temporarily  failed.  Therefore 
their  mission,  so  far  as  it  related  to  organization,  was 
only  tentative,  or  expectant  of  his  re-appearance  to 
;jomplete  his  work.  I  use  the  above  language  solely 
with  reference  to  the  human  side  of  the  events  under 
discussion,  placing  no  limitation  on  the  divine  fore¬ 
knowledge  or  power,  except  such  as  is  necessarily 
connected  with  the  freedom  of  the  Jews  to  accept  or 
reject  the  offer  of  national  salvation. 

“And  now  he  comes!  The  signs  are  sure.  All 
lands  are  armed  for  war.  The  mystic  numbers  are 
fulfilled.  He  comes  I  ” 

But  how  ?  This  is  a  most  momentous  question. 
If  we  refer  to  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Mark,  we  shall  find,  that,  when  Jesus  made  his 
triumphal  entrance  into  the  temple,  he  did  not  at 
once  proceed  to  cleanse  it,  as  would  be  inferred  from 
the  other  evangelists.  But  “when  he  had  looked 
round  about  upon  all  things,  and  now  the  eventide 
was  come,  he  went  out  unto  Bethany  with  the 
twelve;  and  on  the  morrow,  when  they  were  come 
from  Bethany,  .  .  .  they  came  to  Jerusalem;  and 
Jesus  went  into  the  temple,  and  began  to  cast  out 
them  that  sold  and  bought  in  the  temple,  and  over¬ 
threw  the  tables  of  the  money-changers,  and  the 
seats  of  them  that  sold  doves.” 

Several  very  important  conclusions  force  them’ 
selves  upon  my  mind  in  view  of  the  above  state- 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPtTXBlt/IS. 

ments.  The  first  is,  that  these  executive  acts,  ^tJ^e 
only  ones  which  Jesus  dM  iir,'  itn4h>e(liat<;j  Vtpnnecthin 
with  the  royal  prerogativv's  jyhkdJeth^  peQple^had  vu^t 
recognized,  were  entirely  laUUriai  in  their  character, 
and  they  were  a  direct  rebuke  tof^  the  'p©pp?e  .),’^r.di^ 
obeying  the  laws  of  Moses  in  re^epeii’be;tO,  yi^^ihgraiixi 
selling:  they  were  not  exchanging" a ^  tost,  blit  for  a 
profit.  Next,  that  these  acts,  which  I  regard  by  all 
the  attending  circumstances  of  their  occurrence  as 
the  culmination  of  the  earthly  side  of  our  Lord’s 
ministry,  were  performed  on  the  second  day,  or,  in 
broader  utterance,  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
and  also  that  they  were  accomplished  by  him  alone, 
the  people  not  assisting  at  all,  or  taking  any  part,  as 
•they  did  on  the  preceding  day.  This  last  circum¬ 
stance  I  regard  as  a  typical  fulfilment  of  the  predic¬ 
tion  in  Isa.  Ixiii.  3:  ‘‘  I  have  trodden  the  wine-press 
alone;  and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  me.” 

Let  us  exclude  from  our  apprehension  of  the  man¬ 
ner  of  Christ’s  coming  all  ideas  of  his  visible  fleshly 
appearance  among  men,  and  rest  in  the  assurance 
that  the  distress  which  now  pervades  all  lands  is  the 
result  of  his  spiritual  presence  manifesting  itself  in 
righteous  indignation  at  the  general  contempt  of  the 
laws  which  were  intended  to  govern  men  in  their 
material  affairs,  as  is  indeed  affirmed  in  a  subsequent 
part  of  the  prophecy  already  quoted:  ‘‘And  I  looked, 
and  there  was  none  to  help;  and  I  wondered  that 
there  was  none  to  uphold :  therefore  mine  own  arm 
brought  salvation  unto  me ;  and  my  fury,  it  upheld 
me.” 

I  take  occasion  here  to  express  the  opinion,  that 
all  existing  schools  of  prophetic  interpretation  are  at 
fault  in  their  effort  to  ascertain  the  true  meaning  of 
the  Scriptures  in  respect  to  the  future:  first,  because 
of  their  failure  to  recognize  the  permanent  character 
of  the  economic  principles  of  the  Decalogue ;  second, 
in  the  further  failure  to  comprehend  the  truth  that 
Christ  has  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
mainly  by  revelations  concerning  the  intermediate 
condition;  and,  third,  because  of  literalism.  This 
last  error  has  forced  the  pre-Millenists  to  the  absurd 
conclusion,  that  the  Lord,  in  the  very  act  of  estab¬ 
lishing  the  reign  of  the  saints  upon  the  earth,  is  to 
transfer  them  all  in  a  body  to  heaven.  These  errors 


id  ;<  '  the  republic. 

ar^  still  further  intensified  by  the  vain  effort  to  bring 
th^  pemctii^J  vleW$  bf;tjie;  apostles  concerning  the 
Coining^  of  the^XiOrdj , a?  expressed  in  their  letters, 
into  harmony  with  the  Gospels  and  Apocalypse,  on 
the "  bject;  oj  prophecy.  The  reason  for  their  par- 
tiah„khoVle^lge  clearly  stated  by  St.  Luke  in  Acts 
i.  7  :  ‘ '  And  he  fOhri-st]  said  unto  them.  It  is  not  for 
you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons,  which  the 
Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power.” 

For  a  full,  and  to  me  a  satisfactory  explanation  of 
the  last  things,  divested  of  miraculous  supernatural¬ 
ism,  so  far  as  they  refer  to  earthly  matters,  yet  rever¬ 
ent  and  believing  in  the  highest  sense,  I  feel  privileged 
in  referring  the  reader  to  that  remarkable  book, 
‘‘Foregleams  of  Immortality,”  by  E.  H.  Sears. 

I  have  been  impelled  to  extend  this  allusion  to 
prophecy,  by  a  conviction  that  post-Millenism,  the 
prevailing  theory  of  the  churches,  practically  neu¬ 
tralizes  Christian  faith  in  the  second  coming  of  our 
Lord:  it  amounts  to  an  indefinite  postponement  of 
the  whole  question,  and  it  is  one  of  the  principal 
reasons  of  the  prevailing  coldness  and  inefficiency. 
Now,  inasmuch  as  many  minds  will  concede  the  theo¬ 
retic  soundness  of  the  views  which  I  have  urged  con¬ 
cerning  the  relation  of  the  gospel  to  the  law,  but  will 
fail  to  discern  that  the  coming  is  imminent,  that  is, 
that  a  tremendous  crisis  in  human  affairs  is  at  hand, 
I  desire  to  draw  their  attention  to  the  four  closing 
verses  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Kevelation,  as  con¬ 
taining  an  intimation  directly  applicable  to  the 
American  churches,  and  having  very  definite  rela¬ 
tions  to  the  future  of  the  republic.  These  verses 
are  as  follows :  — 

14.  And  to  the  woman  were  given  two  wings  of  a 
great  eagle,  that  she  might  fly  into  the  wilderness, 
into  her  place,  where  she  is  nourished  for  a  time,  and 
times,  and  half  a  time,  from  the  face  of  the  serpent. 

15.  And  the  serpent  cast  out  of  his  mouth  water  as  a 
flood  after  the  woman,  that  he  might  cause  her  to  be 
carried  away  of  the  flood. 

16.  And  the  earth  helped  the  woman;  and  the  earth 
opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  up  the  flood  which 
the  dragon  cast  out  of  his  mouth. 

17.  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman,  and 
went  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed,  which 
keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  have  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  Jesus  Christ. 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  15 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  events  of  prophecy  are 
often  intermingled,  in  the  mystical  language  of  the 
Apocalypse,  without  strict  chronological  accuracy, 
we  can  refer  to  the  context  in  the  sixth  verse  of  the 
same  chapter  for  a  preliminary  statement  that  the 
“flying  into  the  wilderness”  began  with  the  perse¬ 
cution  of  the  apostolic  churches  soon  after  the  birth 
of  the  “man-child,”  and  that  the  dissemination  of 
the  truth  in  this  way  has  largely  characterized  the 
gospel  dispensation  during  the  “1,260  days,”  or  pro¬ 
phetic  years.  We  shall  then  note  the  banishment  of 
Satan  and  his  angels  from  Heaven,  Hades,  to  the 
earth,  which  brings  us  to  verse  fourteen,  and  to  the 
inference  that  the  final  exodus  of  the  persecuted 
church  found  its  highest  development  in  the  settle¬ 
ment  of  our  own  country  to  avoid  oppression;  the 
“two  wings  of  a  great  eagle,”  our  national  emblem, 
being  sufficiently  pointed  to  indicate  that  America  is 
the  “wilderness”  to  which  the  last  exodus  was 
made.  The  “nourishment”  of  the  Church,  or 
“woman,”  during  the  “time,  times,  and  half  a 
time,”  of  verse  fourteen,  or  the  “1,260  days”  of  the 
sixth  verse,  have  expired,  and  they  find  the  churches 
of  America  presenting  in  a  marked  degree  the  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  divine  favor  in  respect  to  numbers  and 
wealth.  With  the  ending  of  the  period  above  named 
comes  “the  time  of  trouble”  (of  Dan.  xii.  1),  of 
tribulation  (of  Matt.  xxiv.  21),  and  of  the  great 
earthquake  (of  Eev.  xvi.  18);  and  the  form  that  this 
trouble  is  taking  in  our  own  country  is  symbolically 
indicated  in  the  three  concluding  verses  I  have 
quoted.  The  character  and  aims  of  the  first  settlers 
were  high ;  but  their  descendants  are  fast  becoming 
spiritually  debased  by  the  acquisition  of  wealth, 
through  usury,  in  its  varied  forms:  in  this  pursuit 
they  have  imported  millions  of  degraded  Africans, 
and  have  held  them  until  recently  in  oppressive 
bondage.  Large  numbers  of  Europeans  have  arrived 
during  the  last  fifty  years,  whose  condition  has  not, 
in  any  marked  degree,  been  improved  by  the  mere 
possession  of  political  freedom,  as  is  proved  by  the 
existence  of  the  immense  tenement  iiopulaticns  of 
our  great  cities;  while  upon  our  western  coasts  the 
incoming  of  the  Chinese  is  fast  convincing  the  public 
mind  that  the  peace  and  progress,  not  only  of  the 


16 


hope  oi'  Tfifi  BEPtiBtilO* 


republic,  but  of  society  itself,  is  at  hazard.  Thes« 
hordes  of  barbarous  and  uneducated  people  con¬ 
stitute,  to  my  mind,  the  ‘‘water  as  a  flood,’’  which 
the  “serpent,”  or  Satan,  has  “cast  out  of  his 
mouth  ”  after  the  “  woman,”  or  Church,  that  he  might 
drown  out,  or  “carry  away,”  all  the  good  influences 
of  our  religious  and  republican  institutions. 

The  material  or  economical  nature  of  the  conflict 
is  indicated  in  the  sixteenth  verse.  The  “  woman” 
is  not  represented  as  being  helped  or  saved  by  her 
piety,  or  by  her  spiritual  gifts ;  but  she  is  helped  by 
the  “earth,”  that  is,  by  the  wise  and  righteous  use 
she  finally  makes  of  the  material  forces  at  her  dis¬ 
posal  in  our  immense  continent  and  its  vast  natural 
resources,  designed  by  God  for  the  common  use  of 
all  his  creatures,  without  price. 

The  seventeenth  verse  describes  an  intense  spir¬ 
itual  conflict,  of  which  our  country  is  to  be  the  first 
and  principal  scene,  while  the  great  Armageddon 
contest  of  actual  warfare  rages  in  the  Old  World. 
This  conflict  will  begin  when  the  Church  denounces 
usury,  and  withdraws  itself  from  the  present  business 
system  of  the  world,  —  the  mystic  Babylon  of  Scrip¬ 
ture,  —  in  compliance  with  the  command  of  Christ 
in  Kev.  xviii.  4:  “  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that 
ye  he  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  that  ye  receive  not  of 
her  plagues.^ ^ 

Eeturning  from  this  digression,  —  if  it  be  one,  — let 
us  endeavor  to  ascertain  some  of  the  remedial  meas¬ 
ures  by  which  we  may  hope  to  mitigate  the  divine 
displeasure,  and  put  ourselves  in  harmony  with 
Christ’s  instructions,  to  “occupy  till  he  comes.” 
There  seem  to  be  three  ways  of  doing  this :  — 

1.  Through  the  associated  action  of  individuals 
under  religious  incentives,  though  not  necessarily  in 
connection  with  a  church.  A  few  years  since,  Mr. 
Charles  ISTordhoff  —  a  writer  for  the  commercial 
press,  of  recognized  character  and  ability  —  visited 
all  the  communes  of  the  United  States,  and  gave  the 
result  of  his  observations  and  conclusions  in  a  very 
interesting  book,  entitled  “  Communism  in  America.” 
Mr.  Samuel  Leavitt  of  Kew  York,  a  most  compe¬ 
tent  authority,  says  of  this  book,  “Its  principal 
value  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  has  overthrown  for  all 
time  the  arguments  of  the  Shakers,  Oneidans,  and 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


17 


the  extreme  Fourierites,  —  that  a  socialistic  life  can¬ 
not  be  maintained  without  destroying  the  marriage 
relation.”  There  are  seventy-two  prosperous  com¬ 
munes  in  the  United  States,  under  the  control  of 
eight  distinct  societies;  viz.,  the  Shakers,  estab¬ 
lished  in  1794 ;  the  Kappists,  in  1805 ;  the  Zoarites, 
in  1817 ;  the  Amaiia  and  Bethel  Communists,  in  1844 ; 
the  Oneida  Perfectionists,  in  1848;  the  Icarians,  in 
1849;  and  the  Aurora  Communists,  in  1852.  They 
number  in  all  about  five  thousand  persons,  and  are 
worth  about  twelve  million  dollars.  Mr.  Nordhoff 
has  the  reputation,  which  is  sustained  by  his  book, 
of  being  a  very  fair  and  unprejudiced  writer;  and  he 
comes  to  the  following  conclusions:  — 

“  Communists  do  not  toil  severely.  In  a  commune 
no  member  is  a  servant.  Communists  are  not  lazy. 
Communists  live  well.  Communists  are  temperate, 
and  drunkenness  is  unknown  among  them.  Com¬ 
munists  are  tenderly  cared  for  when  ill,  and  in  old  age 
their  lives  are  made  very  easy  and  pleasant. 

“  It  is  a  fixed  principle  in  all  the  communes  to  keep 
out  of  debt,  and  avoid  all  speculative  and  hazardous 
enterprises.  None  of  the  communes  make  the  acqui¬ 
sition  of  wealth  a  leading  object  in  life :  they  are  in 
no  haste  to  be  rich.  Communistic  societies  become 
wealthy.  The  communal  life  provides  a  greater  vari¬ 
ety  of  employment  for  each  individual,  and  thus  in¬ 
creases  the  dexterity,  and  broadens  the  faculties  of 
men.  It  gives  independence,  and  inculcates  prudence 
and  frugality;  it  demands  self-sacrifice,  and  restrains 
selfishness  and  greed,  and  thus  increases  the  happi¬ 
ness  which  comes  from  the  moral  side  of  human 
nature.” 

2.  The  second  remedial  measure  by  which  we  may 
prepare  for  Christ’s  coming  is  through  the  action  of 
the  State.  Our  government,  like  that  of  the  He¬ 
brews,  is  the  government  of  a  free  people.  It  is  a 
system  of  self-government.  Our  constitution,  like 
that  of  Moses,  is  pervaded  with  popular  sympathies 
and  the  spirit  of  liberty.  In  what  respect,  then,  do 
we  differ  from  the  standard  by  which  we  are  compar¬ 
ing  ourselves  ?  In  this,  namely,  that  the  Hebrew 
constitution  was  not  only  a  government  of  laws,  but 
of  laws  referring  directly  to  the  industrial  and  Jinan'- 
cial  condition  of  the  common  people.  We  have  so  far 
followed  in  the  steps  of  Moses,  that  we  recognize  the 


18  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

theory,  in  both  national  and  state  constitutions,  that 
government  should  be  of  laws,  and  not  of  men.  But 
we  have  hitherto  not  only  neglected  to  apply  this 
theory  specifically  to  the  transactions  of  industry  and 
exchange,  but  we  are  stoutly  maintaining  the  right 
of  individual  and  corporate  capitalists  not  only  to 
lord  it  as  they  please,  over  great  bodies  of  laborers, 
but  also  to  dictate  terms  in  the  matter  of  railroad 
transportation  to  influential  mercantile  and  agricul¬ 
tural  communities.  We  do  this  in  the  most  thorough 
and  effective  manner  in  conserving  ^‘property”  as 
the  unit  or  base  of  our  legislation ;  whereas  the  Bible 
standard  is  that  of  manhood,  or,  more  properly,  the 
family.  It  is  true  that  our  laws  guard  all  classes  of 
citizens  from  personal  violence;  but  the  practical 
effect  of  the  laws  concerning  property  is  such  as  to 
inure  almost  exclusively  to  the  trading  and  moneyed 
classes,  because  they  do  not  apply  to  property  until 
after  it  has  been  distributed.  They  make  no  effort, 
or  pretence  even,  to  shield  the  producer  in  his  indus¬ 
trial  right.  Neither  the  legislative  nor  the  judicial 
authorities  of  the  State  have  admitted  it  to  be  any 
part  of  their  functions  to  provide  for  equity  in  the 
distribution  of  labor  and  its  reward;  and  in  this  re¬ 
spect  they  reverse  the  Mosaic  legislation,  which  made 
as  ample  provision  as  the  age  permitted  for  relief 
from  excessive  toil,  and  controlled  the  price  of  labor, 
land,  merchandise,  and  money,  by  the  application  of 
the  highest  principles  of  ethics.  Two  consequences 
follow  from  this  disastrous  omission:  first,  the  en¬ 
forced  idleness  of  large  numbers  of  the  people,  in 
consequence  of  the  introduction  of  machinery, 
averaging  at  least  a  third  of  each  year;  and,  second, 
an  absolute  inadequacy  of  income,  not  only  because 
of  this  lack  of  steady  employment,  but  also  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  inherent  defects  of  wages  as  a  means  of 
payment,  their  aggregate  amount  not  being  suflScient 
to  purchase  the  things  which  the  laborers  have  them¬ 
selves  made,  thus  causing  the  strange  phenomenon  of 
glutted  markets  in  the  midst  of  a  needy  and  often 
suffering  people.  It  has  been  ascertained  by  reliable 
statistics,  that  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which 
probably  pays  the  highest  wages  in  the  Union,  only 
averages  four  hundred  and  eighteen  dollars  a  year. 
As  it  is  known  that  considerable  numbers  of  skilled 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


19 


workmen  exceed  this  average,  in  prosperous  years 
by  seyeral  hundred  dollars,  what  a  pinched  and  nar¬ 
row  living  must  women  and  youths,  and  all  who 
compose  the  low-paid  classes,  have!  These  figures 
might  be  graded  down  through  the  different  States 
until  the  colored  laborers  of  the  South  are  reached, 
where  the  united  effort  of  a  whole  family  only  yields 
about  two  hundred  dollars  in  cash  per  year.  Will 
the  reader  pardon  me  if  I  point  out  here  an  appalh 
ing  danger  ?  Cultivated  society  is  stupidly  arguing 
against  the  exercise  of  violence  by  laborers,  because 
having  the  ballot  in  their  hands,  and  being  the  most 
numerous,  they  are  assumed  to  have  the  means  of 
peacefully  righting  themselves  by  political  action; 
but  I  aver  that  this  assumption  is  not  justified  by 
existing  facts,  and,  furthermore,  that  the  governing 
classes,  as  long  as  they  deceive  themselves  by  such  a 
specious  theory,  are  in  the  condition  of  men  who 
lie  down  to  sleep  upon  a  railroad  track.  It  is  now 
more  than  fifty  years  since  the  labor  agitation  began 
in  this  country,  and  the  results  may  b^e  briefly  sum¬ 
marized  as  follows :  — 

Our  partial  and  ineffective  legislation  concerning 
the  hours  of  labor,  and  our  homestead  laws,  are  all 
the  enactments  we  have  that  touch  vitally  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  industry.  T^e  ten-hours  day  was  one  of  the 
first  requests. we  made ;  and  our  whole  factory  popu¬ 
lation  are  still  pleading  in  vain  for  relief  in  this  re¬ 
spect.  Our  lien  law  is  a  cheat.  Suing  in  court  is  a 
mockery:  the  workman  and  all  his  family  would 
starve  to  death  a  score  of  times  before  he  could  re¬ 
cover  by  a  suit  his  wickedly  withheld  wage,  which 
is  his  living.  The  law  that  gave  three  years  for  the 
redemption  of  a  mortgage  is  repealed ;  and  so  is  the 
law  limiting  interest  on  money.  The  national  Eight 
Hour  Law  has  been  treated  from  the  beginning  with 
unblushing  contempt,  and  disregarded  by  whole 
classes  of  officials  having  in  charge  large  numbers  of 
working-people;  and,  finally,  the  intelligent  skilled 
workmen  of  the  navy-yards  and  arsenals  of  the  coun¬ 
try  have  been  deprived  of  its  benefits  by  proceedings 
equally  arbitrary  and  unrepublican.  It  follows,  also, 
as  an  unavoidable  consequence  of  our  unhallowed 
worship  of  property,  and  neglect  of  the  family,  that 
we  are  rapidly  sinking  in  this  respect  to  the  appall- 


20 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


ing  social  conditions  of  the  Old  World.  The  sacred 
privacy  which  should  invest  the  home  has  been  in¬ 
vaded  by  the  double  occupancy  of  buildings  by  our 
respectable  working-people ;  and  statistics  of  the  most 
reliable  character  prove  that  married  women  are 
being  more  and  more  forced  to  add  their  labor  to  that 
of  their  husbands  to  gain  an  ordinary  livelihood.  As 
a  practical  fact,  our  law  system  does  so  work  as  to 
enable  a  few  money-holders  to  keep  the  people  in 
subjection  therewith,  and  devour  their  labor ;  and  the 
case  is  growing  worse  and  worse  every  day. 

I  maintain  that  the  joint  influence  of  the  two 
erroneous  theories,  viz.,  that  the  power  of  the  State 
should  be  limited  to  the  protection  of  property  after 
it  has  been  distributed,  and  that  the  Church  has  no 
direct  control  over  material  affairs,  effectually  neu¬ 
tralizes  whatever  political  advantages  the  people  pos¬ 
sess.  We  may  vote  and  petition  until  doomsday  ;  but 
we  shall  accomplish  nothing  until  this  state  of  public 
opinion  is  rectifled.  The  dreadful  scenes  which  oc¬ 
curred  during  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  riots  will  be 
liable  to  be  repeated  as  long  as  the  pathway  of  reform 
is  blocked  with  such  disastrous  errors. 

The  republic,  if  it  would  continue,  must  remedy 
these  deficiencies.  I  have  shown  the  germs  of  the 
social  forces,  which,  in  the  vajdous  religious  com¬ 
munes  of  the  country,  give  us  hope  in  these  direc¬ 
tions.  It  is  my  privilege  now  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  Plymouth  Colony,  which  was  indeed 
the  moral  seed-force  of  our  national  life,  was  unmis¬ 
takably  communistic  in  its  origin,  and  that,  in  direct 
connection  with  this  fact,  the  advantages  of  recipro¬ 
cal  relations  between  men  in  material  affairs  have 
been  in  operation  in  the  Kew-England  fisheries  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  And  what  makes  this 
allusion  the  more  pertinent  is  the  fact  that  these 
beneficent  customs  have  been  indirectly,  but  very 
effectively,  aided  by  the  natural  operation  of  the 
marine  laws  of  the  United  States. 

I  recollect  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  lessons  of 
the  early  years  of  my  life,  that  I  saw,  on  one  occa¬ 
sion,  eighty  sail  of  the  most  perfectly  constructed 
vessels  of  their  kind  in  the  world,  riding  at  anchor 
in  the  port  of  Wellfleet,  Mass.,  a  town  deeply  imbued 
with  the  Pilgrim  spirit  and  character.  Tfiese  vessels 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  EEPTJBLIC.  .  21 

could  not  have  been  worth  less  than  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  ;  and  they  were  owned  almost  ex¬ 
clusively  by  their  crews,  numbering  about  a  thousand 
men.  They  were  navigated  on  shares  ;  and  the 
whole  business  as  it  was  conducted  at  that  time  fur¬ 
nished  conclusive  evidence  that  the  religious  spirit 
may  work  in  harmony  with  the  State  in  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  equitable  economic  law. 

But  while  I  believe  in  the  right  and  duty  of  the 
nation  to  act  on  those  principles  of  large  utilitarian¬ 
ism,  which  would  lead  ultimately  to  equitable  com¬ 
merce,  and  while  I  feel  that  a  necessity  of  the  most 
urgent  character  is  upon  us  to  take  some  of  the  pre¬ 
paratory  steps  to  that  end,  with  reference  to  the  cur¬ 
rency,  the  tariff,  telegraphs,  and  railroads,  and  also 
secular  education,  blended  with  natural  religion,  I 
frankly  admit  that  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  full 
settlement  of  a  question  of  such  stupendous  magni¬ 
tude  as  this  on  intellectual  grounds,  and  through 
political  forces  alone,  seem  to  me  to  be  insurmounta¬ 
ble. 

In  considering  the  various  local  industrial  com¬ 
munes,  the  fact  has  presented  itself,  that  those  only 
have  had  a  marked  success  which  have  maintained 
a  deep  religious  life  ;  and,  seen  from  this  aspect, 
these  quiet,  peaceful,  and  prosperous  societies  have 
appeared  like  salt,  tending  to  the  preservation  of 
society,  if  by  any  means  their  influence  could  be 
enlarged,  and  made  general.  And  this  brings  me  to 
my  third  means  of  practical  reform. 

3.  The  chief  remedial  work  which  must  needs  be 
done  must  be  done  by  the  Church  of  Christ.  Every 
movement  for  reform  hitherto  has  sprung  out  of  the 
Church;  and  so  must  this  movement  begin.  The 
very  existence  of  the  national  republic  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  members  of  the  congregational  churches 
of  England  and  America  had  previously  voted  for 
two  centuries  in  their  local  religious  and  civil  organi¬ 
zations.  Our  political  freedom  is  an  outgrowth  from 
the  Church;  and  industrial  liberty  will  come  mainly 
from  the  same  source.  Within  the  memory  of  living 
men,  the  Christian  Church  has  been  aroused  from 
profound  slumber  to  a  sense  of  her  duty  to  Pagans, 
to  drunkards,  and  to  slaves:  her  final  and  greatest 
work,  in  the  re-organization  of  society  on  Bible  prin- 


22 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


ciples,  still  waits  for  such  an  outpouring  of  the  Holj 
Ghost  as  shall  set  the  things  of  Christ,  in  this  re¬ 
spect,  in  their  true  light  before  her  astonished  gaze. 
The  Church  must  open  her  eyes  to  a  sense  of  the 
fatal  character  of  the  blunder  which  her  Protestant 
branches  have  committed  in  relinquishing  all  au¬ 
thority  over  the  temporal  affairs  of  life.  Sir.  Glad¬ 
stone,  in  thanking  a  German  author  for  the  dedica¬ 
tion  of  his  work  to  himself,  writes  thus:  Germany 
now  holds  the  first  place  in  behalf  of  the  world  in 
asserting  the  necessity  of  limiting  spiritual  power  to 
spiritual  thing  si  ^  In  these  words,  England’s  great¬ 
est  statesman  undoubtedly  expresses  the  prevailing 
views  of  Protestants.  I  believe  the  position  to  be 
utterly  untenable,  and,  furthermore,  that  its  con¬ 
tinued  application  will  be  destructive,  not  only  of 
free  institutions,  but  of  the  further  progress  of  the 
Christian  Church.  Do  not  misunderstand  me  on 
this  point.  I  do  not  believe  in  a  Christian  amend¬ 
ment  to  our  civil  constitutions.  It  is  one  thing  for 
the  Church  to  exercise  power  over  the  State,  and 
another  and  very  different  thing  for  it  to  carry  its 
spiritual  principles  into  practice  in  its  relation  to  its 
own  members  by  effective  organization. 

The  economic  question  is  so  complex,  that  the  con¬ 
fusion  of  Babel  pervades  the  counsels  of  reformers : 
but  Moses  spoke  clearly,  and  with  divine  authority, 
concerning  the  fundamental  principles  which  should 
control  society,  in  endeavoring  to  solve  it ;  and,  in 
rejecting  his  authority  in  this  matter,  the  Protestant 
Church  encourages  discordant  opinions,  and  also 
forfeits  her  claim  to  the  respect  which  mankind 
universally  accords  to  those  who  lift  the  race  to 
higher  levels  of  human  living.  Her  missions  have 
accomplished  little  that  is  conclusive  in  redeeming 
men.  The  Sandwich  Islands,  the  most  successful  of 
them  all,  were  converted  to  a  spiritual  faith,  it  is 
true;  but  the  social  application  of  that  faith  was 
neglected  on  principle,  and  the  islanders  are  fast 
perishing  by  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  their 
contact  with  the  mammonized  business  system  of  the 
world,  from  the  evil  effects  of  which  they  were  en¬ 
tirely  unprotected  by  their  new  religion.  The  same  is 
true  of  the  North- American  Indians,  in  whose  case 
the  only  success  which  has  been  attained  has  been  iu 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  BEPUBLIC.  2d 

those  instances  where  the  missions  have  transcended 
their  own  theories,  and  gathered  their  converts  into 
communities. 

But  a  contrary  and  most  favorable  result  has  al¬ 
ways  been  observable  whenever  the  Church  has  used 
the  elements  of  voluntary  but  authoritative  organi¬ 
zation  in  her  relation  to  worldly  affairs.  Quakers, 
Moravians,  and  Catholics  have  touched  with  bold, 
and  measurably  successful  hands  the  industrial  ques¬ 
tion.  'The  last-named  has  the  most  sacred  claim  to 
the  respectful  consideration  of  Protestants  by  reason 
of  her  tender  care  in  providing  labor  for  the  poor  in 
connection  with  her  conventual  institutions  during 
the  middle  ages,  and  her  modern  missions,  in  which 
labor  has  been  organized  and  cared  for  on  higher 
principles  than  those  of  the  market. 

The  last  book  of  the  Old  Testament  is  profoundly 
interesting  to  the  student  of  Christian  sociology,  in¬ 
asmuch  as  it  demonstrates  that  the  materialism  of 
Moses  was  intended  to  find  its  full  expansion  under 
Christ.  The  prophet  Malachi  severely  denounces  the 
tribe  of  Levi  for  failing  to  instruct  the  people  in  the 
law.  In  chapter  iii.  verse  3,  the  coming  of  Christ  to 
his  temple  is  directly  associated  with  the  purifying 
and  purging  of  the  sons  of  Levi.  They  are  accused 
of  causing  many  to  stumble  at  the  law,’’  and  the 
fearful  consequences  are  pointed  out  that  the  nation 
was  cursed  with  a  curse,  for  ye  have  robbed  me, 
even  this  whole  nation,”  in  refusing  to  bring  into 
the  storehouses  of  the  Lord  the  offerings  which  the 
law  demanded,  and  in  oppressing  hirelings  in  their 
wages.  The  central  theme  of  this  prophecy  is  di¬ 
rectly  in  line  with  Christ’s  language  in  Luke  xvi.  11, 
that  God  will  not  commit  the  true  riches  ”  to  those 
who  prove  unfaithful  in  the  unrighteous  mammon. 
I  would  urge  the  following  considerations  as  motives 
to  bring  the  Church  into  right  conduct  in  this  re¬ 
spect  ;  and  in  their  support  I  will  further  quote  from 
Professor  Wines’s  book  some  statements  which  afford 
the  most  ample  proof  that  the  cultured  and  wealthy 
laity  of  the  modern  church  have  failed  to  realize  the 
directly  practical  nature  of  the  responsibilities  which 
rest  upon  them  as  the  representatives  of  the  Levites, 
who,  it  will  be  seen,  were  devoted  to  the  affairs  of 
the  i^resent  life  ;  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  people 


24 


THE  HOI'E  OF  THE  EEPUBLIC. 


under  tlie  Hebrew  economy  having  been  committed 
to  the  high  priests  and  the  prophets,  the  Christian 
ministry  taking  their  places  in  the  gospel  dispensa^ 
tion. 

‘  ‘  The  Le vites  were  not  a  m ere  spirituality.  C ertainly 
they  were  the  ministers  of  religion,  and  charged  with 
all  the  functions  appertaining  to  the  public  worship  of 
Jehovah.  But  so  close  was  the  relation  between  the 
law  and  the  religion  of  the  Hebrews,  that  all  ecclesi¬ 
astical  persons  were  at  the  same  time  political  persons. 
Politically  speaking,  they  were  Jehovah’s  ministers  of 
state  :  hence  this  tribe,  as  constituted  by  Moses,  was 
not  only  a  priesthood,  appointed  to  the  service  of  the 
altar,  but  also  a  true  temi^oral  magistracy,  having  im¬ 
portant  and  vital  civil  relations.  Besides  performing 
the  ceremonies  of  public  worship,  it  was  destined  to 
preserve  in  its  integrity,  and  to  interpret  in  the  seat  of 
justice,  the  text  of  the  fundamental  laws;  to  teach 
these  laws  to  all  Israel;  to  inspire  the  people  with  a 
love  for  them;  and  to  bind  firmly  together  all  the 
parts  of  the  body  politic. 

“  The  tribe  of  Levi,  then,  comprehended  the  learned 
of  all  names  ;  the  sages  and  professors  of  law  and 
jurisprudence,  of  medicine  and  physiology,  of  the 
physical  and  mathematical  sciences  ;  in  short,  all  the 
so-called  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  the  possession  and 
application  of  which  constitute  the  civilization  of  a 
country.  It  was  to  be  the  chief  instrument  of  a  con¬ 
tinuing  and  progressive  mental,  moral,  and  religious 
culture  of  the  people.  Its  business  was  to  produce, 
preserve,  and  perfect  all  the  necessary  sources  and 
conditions  of  national  civilization,  to  form  and  train 
up  the  people  of  the  country  to  be  obedient,  free,  use¬ 
ful  citizens  and  patriots,  living  to  the  benefit  of  the 
State,  and  prepared  to  die  for  its  defence.” 

Now,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  professions  here 
described  were  required  to  give  their  services  to  the 
people,  so  that  any  one  who  needed  a  doctor  or  a 
lawyer  could  be  served  gratuitously,  that  they  were 
not  even  supported  by  a  moneyed  salary,  as  our 
preachers  and  teachers  are,  much  less  allowed  to  in¬ 
crease  their  income,  or  accumulate  wealth  by  usury, 
but  depended  entirely  for  their  support  on  a  share  of 
the  crops  coming  to  them  in  the  form  of  tithes,  we 
can  form  some  idea  of  the  great  work  to  which  the 
same  classes  are  now  called  in  free  America,  with 
such  additions  to  the  list  above  named  as  shall  bring 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  25 

the  mercantile,  manufacturing,  and  agricultural  lead¬ 
ers  of  society,  who  may  be  members  of  the  Christian 
Church,  to  a  full  sense  of  their  obligation  to  Christ 
in  this  solemn  crisis,  to  work  with  him  in  ‘‘fulfill¬ 
ing  the  law,”  so  as  to  effectively  abolish  the  present 
despotic  and  usurious  systems  of  production  and 
exchange,  and  thereby  substitute  the  liberty  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  based  upon  the  Decalogue  in  its 
twofold  but  closely  interwoven  relations,  the  mate¬ 
rial  and  the  spiritual.  The  exigency  is  a  fearful  one : 
we  cannot  safely  refuse  to  consider  the  claims  of 
labor,  or  delay  action.  The  causes  of  the  present 
suffering  are  too  deeply  seated  to  be  removed  by  su¬ 
perficial  remedies.  The  Catholic  Church  should  use 
the  power  which  she  has  always  claimed,  by  repeat¬ 
ing  her  wise  and  successful  colony  on  the  Paraguay 
in  such  localities  as  to  empty  our  cities  of  their  de¬ 
pressed  tenant  populations.  The  Methodist  Church 
could  gain  a  new  spiritual  impulse,  and  employ  large 
numbers  of  her  intelligent  and  self-sacrificing  laity, 
by  sending  them  into  the  South  and  West  to  organize 
the  freedmen  into  Christian  communities  after  the 
pattern  at  Amana  in  Iowa,  insuring  their  education 
and  just  treatment,  .solving  a  most  angry  and  per¬ 
plexing  social  question,  and  giving  the  cause  of  mis¬ 
sions  throughout  the  world  the  benefit  of  successful 
self-supporting  example. 

Wolves  are  increasing  in  the  rural  portions  of 
Catholic  France,  and  forests  are  springing  up  on  the 
deserted  farms  of  Protestant  IS'ew  England.  On  the 
Pacific  coast  the  evidence  has  become  so  convincing 
that  Asiatic  immigration  is  dragging  California  down 
to  the  level  of  China,  that  the  great  cultured  and 
conservative  interests  of  society  have  reversed  their 
original  opinion,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  are  at  one  with  the  voice  of  labor  in 
protesting  against  its  continuance.  No  nation  is 
under  obligation,  even  by  the  Golden  Rule,  to  love 
another  people  better  than  itself  :  our  own  citizens 
have  the  first  claim  upon  our  sympathies.  It  is  clear 
that  we  are  passing  through  a  great  crisis.  It  will 
be  soon  enough  to  welcome  the  Chinese  in  large 
numbers,  when  we  have  so  far  reformed  our  Chris¬ 
tianity,  and  our  customs  of  business  and  labor,  as 
to  turn  their  presence  into  a  blessing  by  co-operation* 


26  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  EEPUBLIC. 

instead  of  its  cursing  us  by  its  competition.  The 
immediate  providential  aspect  of  this  immigration  is 
not  what  the  mammonized  press  of  the  day  calls  it, 

—  their  Christianization  ;  but  its  outlook  is  in  the 
direction  of  our  own  conversion  to  the  gospel  of  the 
kingdom  in  its  fulness  as  pertaining  to  the  temporal 
as  well  as  the  spiritual  salvation  of  the  people,  by 
making  a  startling  revelation  of  our  own  social  and 
religious  short-comings.  The  Chinese  quarter  of  San 
Francisco  is  a  parasite  which  has  fastened  itself  upon 
our  civilization,  because  we  have  done  little  or  noth¬ 
ing  for  the  heathen  world.  It  will,  if  the  present  con¬ 
ditions  of  society  should  continue,  certainly  kill  the 
tree  upon  which  it  has  fastened.  But  the  principles 
of  the  Bible,  if  applied,  will  not  only  save  California, 
but  send  out  vigorous  offshoots  in  the  shape  of  Chris¬ 
tian  mission  communities  to  China  and  other  be¬ 
nighted  lands,  thus  defeating  the  malignant  designs 
of  Satan,  and  redeeming  the  world  for  Christ. 

ISTo  effective  remedy  has  been  proposed  for  the 
reconstruction  of  the  South.  It  is  evident  that  the 
resort  to  force  is  out  of  the  question.  The  reasons 
which  forbid  its  exercise  are  equally  valid  against 
the  maintenance  of  a  great  standing  army  to  shoot 
down  the  starving  laborers  of  our  railroads,  or  the 
miserable  tenant-house  population  of  our  great  cities. 
Republican  liberty  will  certainly  disappear  with  such 
wholesale  use  of  arms. 

Christ  has  committed  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  to 
his  Church.  His  perfected  Church  is  the  Theocracy 
restored,  with  himself  as  king.  In  the  act  of  washing 
the  disciples’  feet  he  symbolized  Christian  labor,  and 
he  claimed  all  power  over  things,  as  well  as  liearts, 

Jesus  knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all  things 
into  his  hands  ”  (John  xiii.  3) ;  and  he  also  expresses 
very  plainly  in  the  prayer,  Thy  kingdom  come,  thy 
will  be  done  in  earth  as  in  heaven,”  which  millions 
of  believers  daily  utter  by  his  command,  that  he 
intends  to  guide  his  followers  to  victory  in  the  solu¬ 
tion  of  the  two  controlling  issues  of  the  present  life, 

—  the  labor  and  the  money  questions.  The  whole  of 
Christ’s  victory,  of  which  this  is  a  part,  is  thus  fore¬ 
told  :  — 

“  I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  and,  behold,  one  like 
the  Son  of  man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and 


i 


I  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  HEPUBLIC.  21 

came  to  the  Ancient  of  days.  And  there  was  given 
him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  peo¬ 
ple,  nations,  and  languages,  should  serve  him  :  his 
dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  which  shall  not 
pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  \vhich  shall  not  he 
destroyed.  .  .  .  And  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and 
the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  w^hole  heaven, 
shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  most 
High,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  him.”  — 
Dan.  vii.  13,  14,  27. 

This  vision  can  only  be  fulfilled  when  the  Church 
exercises  as  full  authority  over  property  as  it  now 
does  over  personal  character ;  when  all  property,  so 
far  as  land  and  the  instrumentalities  for  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  wealth  are  concerned,  is  held  by  the  people, 
and  used  for  them  ;  when  it  cannot  be,  as  now,  that 
the  increase  of  the  wealth  of  the  few  is  gotten 
through  the  increase  of  the  misery  of  the  many,  but 
when  the  infiuence  of  the  Church  in  transforming 
the  structure  of  society  shall  be  such  as  to  constrain 
and  to  help  every  one  who  has  charge  of  affairs  to 
consider  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people, 
as  Moses  did,  and  to  conduct  business  in  such  a 
manner  that  all  worthy  and  industrious  persons  will 
have  enough  to  satisfy  their  reasonable  desires  :  in 
short,  only  as  the  Church  changes  from  its  present 
narrow  and  selfish  individualism,  subjective  in  piety, 
and  dwarfed  in  practice,  to  a  broad  and  generous 
objective  voluntary  communism,  open,  hearty,  loving, 
and  fruitful,  can  this  prophecy  be  fulfilled,  and  re¬ 
publican  institutions  be  perpetuated. 


The  author  earnestly  recommends  to  preachers  and  students 
of  prophecy,  “  Like  unto  Me,”  or  the  resemblance  between 
Moses  and  Christ,  a  discussion  of  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
the  People.  It  will  be  sent  by  the  single  copy,  or  quantity,  at 
three  cents  each.  The  “  Hope  of  the  Republic  ”  is  also  ofi'ered 
at  cost. 

Correspondence  is  solicited  with  reference  to  the  work  of  the 
“  Christian  Labor  Union,”  and  also  the  “  Golden  Rule  Alliance,” 
an  evangelical  Protestant  religious  order,  for  purposes  of  life- 
assurance  and  relief  in  sickness,  with  both  of  which  he  is  olfi- 
cially  connected.  E.  EL.  R. 


28 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


Chelsea,  Mass.,  April  9,  1886,  I 
In  issuing  a  second  edition  of  this  tract,  it  is  incum- 1 
bent  on  me  to  notice  appreciatively  the  fact,  that  the] 
national  government  has  ceased  its  opposition  to  the! 
‘‘  Eight-hour  Law.’^  j 

The  many  friends,  in  the  ranks  of  labor  and  of  cul-j 
ture  who  have  manifested  their  approval  of  its  ten-j 
dencies,  are  also  gratefully  remembered;  among  the! 
last  was  the  late  lamented  Kev.  Charles  T.  Collens  of] 
Cleveland,  O.,  whose  sermon,  entitled  ‘‘The  Modern 
Migration  of  Nations;  or.  The  Danger  and  the  Duty  of 
the  Hour,’’  is  conceded  by  impartial  judges  to  be  sub-| 
stantially  a  reiteration  of  the  message  of  “  The  Hope-] 
of  the  Eepublic.”  | 

The  above  sermon  has  been  adopted  as  a  tract  by] 
the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the  Con-j 
gregationalists,  and  extensively  circulated  in  that] 
Church.  Its  kind  but  radical  character  may  be  in-| 
ferred  from  its  closing  paragraph,  as  follows :  —  \ 

“If  agencies  are  lacking  to  reach  out  and  inter¬ 
penetrate  the  masses  with  vital  Christianity,  we  must 
then  organize  such.  There  can  he  no  doubt  that  the\ 
masses  will  cling  to  such  a  Churchy  and  to  such  a\ 
Christ  so  presented,  and  thus  have  all  their  turbulent,  1 
selfish  passions  calmed  into  contentment.  Who 
knows  ?  Perhaps  God  has  given  us  this  peril,  that,  | 
in  its  battle-test,  Christianity  may  renew  its  youth,  j 
and  burst  in  glory  from  the  dead  chrysalis  accumuia-] 
tions  of  many  centuries.  Certainly,  unless  this  be  I 
done,  there  is  danger  ahead  for  this  republic,  against 
which  no  legislation  can  protect  it.  By  the  word  of 
Christ,  unless  this  be  done,  the  judgments  of  God  must 
fall  on  millions  of  lost  fellow-beings;  and  in  that  judg-j 
ment  a  Church  that  sits  apathetic  cannot  escape  pen-] 
alty.  The  blood  of  souls  stains  it.” 

Note.  — The  prophetic  allusions  in  the  preceding  essay  have! 
been  perfected  since  its  original  issue,  and  some  very  important  | 
conclusions  reached.  They  are  embodied  in  a  manuscript,  of,| 
which  copies  have  been  placed  in  the  public  libraries  of  Chelsea  | 
and  Boston.  The  Chelsea  book  is  marked  R.  288;  the  Bates-] 
Hall  copy  is  '*''♦'5437. 54.  j 

This  book  presents  comprehensive  statements  from  the  Scrip- j 
tures,  showing  that  the  Divine  Being  is  about  to  make  an] 
extraordinary  manifestation  of  judgment  and  mercy  on  the] 
American  continent.  It  is  entitled  “  Paradise  and  Gehenna;  or,| 
The  Intermediate  State  of  the  Spirit  World,  and  its  Relations  toj 
the  Present  Life  ”  (Sociologie).  199  pp.  12®.  j 


